Taken By Insanity
by pearlzandlace012
Summary: Her mind works like lightning. One brilliant flash and it's gone.
1. Prologue

_Two by two, Hands of Blue. Two by two, Hands of Blue._

Running. The flashes in her eyes won't cease, and the only thing she can do is run - run farther and farther away until they spiral back, bringing her downward into this state of Hell. The darkness refuses to accommodate her, pushing her downwards. And she's screaming, screaming, ignoring their questions, their words. They don't care. They never have. She's just an experiment to them, a toy to play with and break.

"River, what do you see?"

The words penetrate her skull, and she barely manages a coherent thought, _How the hell do you expect me to answer you?! _Of course, she doesn't say so out loud. Even if she could speak, she would be severely punished later. Not just by sticking needles in her eyes, oh no, they'd do far worse. And she couldn't take any more.

Hours and hours seemed to pass before she finally heard the delightful words, "Alright. We're done."

She screams louder in delight, in relief, and they stare at her. _She__ must be crazy. _But who wouldn't be, after what they'd done to her?

"River, get up."

So she does. She can barely see, as everything appears with a layer of static, shapes and colours not appearing correctly in her damaged eyes. Everyone has left, left her in here all alone. Finally, silence and release. She slowly stands up and feels her way out the door. Her vision is coming back, and now she can see what they've done to her.

She makes her way down the hall, passing the bedrooms. Marina stops, stares at her with a look of horror. "Oh, River, what have they done to you?"

But she passes Marina, as if in a daze. She fumbles for the doorknob as she reaches her bedroom. No longer is she the smiling, happy girl she'd been when she entered the academy. Now she is broken, a wooden doll that cannot be fixed.

Slowly, quietly, she grabs a pen and a piece of paper. She sits down at her desk and begins scribbling. She can't make sense of words; coherent thoughts don't come easily to her anymore. Dancing. Yes, dancing. She remembers that. And so she writes about a dance that she'd never attended. She folds up the letter and sticks it in an envelope. Hopefully this one would reach her brother. Hopefully this time, her brother would save her.

Then she sees him. The man with the Hands of Blue. He's standing behind her and she screams. "No, please!" But he only laughs and then disappears. It was only a hallucination. A section of her brain gone wrong. It was all their fault.

So there she stands, in the middle of the room, desperately grasping a nonsense letter. This is the end for her. She knows it. Her brain does not work anymore, her vision is dulled, her hearing subdued. It's over now. It's over. There's nothing left for her.

She has cracked.


	2. The Beginning Of The End

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Simon Tam said, looking down at his younger sister with concern. "You've never been by yourself for this long before."

"I'll be fine," River said, smiling. "I'm actually really excited. It'll be nice to speak to others on the same intellectual level as me."

"Alright," Simon said, leaning down and kissing River on the top of her head. "Good luck, and I hope you enjoy your time at the Academy."

"I will," River reassured him as Simon walked towards the train. River waited until he was out of sight, and then she turned and looked at the Academy that stood before her. It was beautiful, with its long, white pillars and polished glow. She was sure she would love it here.

Taking a deep breath, River opened the door and went to the front desk to check in. "I'm River Tam," she said softly. "One of the students enrolled here."

The secretary looked at her over rimmed glasses. "Oh, yes, River," she drawled. "I know who you are. Don't worry, Han here is going to show you around." She gestured to a man standing in the shadows that River hadn't noticed.

"I'm Han," he said, holding out his hand for River to shake. His voice was kind and his handshake firm, exactly how River liked it. "I'll show you to your room, and around to the different classes. Think of me as, well, sort of your tour guide. Then there's an interview we do at the end for all the new students."

"Alright," River agreed. She followed Han up the spiral staircase and down a long corridor.

"These are the classrooms," Han said. "You'll be doing most of your studies here. And this," he continued, opening a door, "is the gymnasium. This is where you'll do yoga, sports, and other health activities."

"If you don't mind me asking, where is everyone?" River inquired.

"Everyone's in their rooms right now," Han told her. "But don't worry, everyone will be out for evening classes and you'll be allowed to join them. From the looks of your schedule, you'll be in...AP Psychology and BC Calculus."

"This school is amazing," River breathed. She knew she would love it here.

"Now for the interview," Han said. "I'll show you to your room last. I'm sure you'll get along just fine with your roommate. All the girls do."

"Alright," River said, following Han into a dark room. He turned on a small lamp and sat at a desk across from her.

"Now, River, do you like school?"

"I do. It's...sometimes things move a little slowly for me."

"I can imagine they do. What's your favourite subject?"

River smiled. "I'm finding Physics a challenge."

The interview carried on like this for a while, River smiling and laughing and answering Han's questions before Han finally said, "Alright, the interview has come to a close. I'll show you to your room now."

The two walked back up the black, spiral staircase and Han went down a different corridor, this one much brighter than the previous. Finally he stopped at a door on the left. "This is your room, Room 142. Your roommate's name is Marina."

"Thank you," River said, opening the door and walking in.

Marina lay sprawled on her bed, book open. She barely glanced up as River came in. "Hello. And you are?"

"River Tam. Pleased to make your acquaintance," River said, holding out her hand.

Marina raised her eyebrows, then said, "Marina Crossgrow," and shook River's hand.

"Ah. Do you like it here?" River asked. She'd been dying to know what other students thought of the Academy.

"I do. It's just-it...well," Marina stuttered.

"Well?"

"You'll see. Or you may not. Hopefully, you won't," Marina said, turning shadily back to her book.

River sighed and flopped down on her bed. Despite her roommate's odd behaviour, everything seemed to be going just fine. Little did she know, this was the beginning of the end.


End file.
